RE: greenhouse-tomatoes: spider/russet mite

["Michael Pierce" <michael@mrhydro.com>]

greenhouse-tomatoes - an email list for growers of greenhouse tomatoes.
Sent by "Michael Pierce" <michael@mrhydro.com>.
-

We tried them along with Cinnamite and liquid sulphur with no success on
russet mites. However, the Cinnamite did make the greenhouse smell like a
bakery.

I certainly do not believe that "once you have them, you will always have
them". I had them one year, sprayed as soon as I could and have had no
problem since. If you keep getting them it's because you have not properly
treated the perimeter of your greenhouse or perhaps someone or something
(like your dog or cat) is carrying them in. One of the tough things about
this forum is that when people write in and specify a problem, no other
information is given regarding a useful description of their operation. In
other words, you may have a built-in situation that creates your problem.
It's like having an uncontrollable whitefly problem when your greenhouse
sits adjacent to a cotton field. Poor choice of location!

A grower once contacted me about a "bug" problem that he had and that no
amount of spraying did the trick. He wanted to know what I used for white
flies. He proceeded to buy a cocktail of beneficials on a weekly basis; more
then recommended by the supplier and a variety different then what I was
using. When I finally had a chance to visit his "greenhouse", I learned that
it was nothing more then some plastic stretched over a few rows of tomatoes
grown in the dirt. He was essentially a field tomato grower! My point is,
his situation was nothing like mine and therefore the remedies were not
going to be the same.

Keep in mind that I do not advocate carte blanc spraying of any chemical. I
use beneficials on a regular basis and bees for pollination. This makes it
inconvenient and expensive to spray. However, I'm not running a hobby house
here and I've done this long enough to know that when you have a problem,
you can't pussy foot around with a crop that you rely on income from. 


Michael

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-greenhouse-tomatoes@Lists.MsState.Edu
[mailto:owner-greenhouse-tomatoes@Lists.MsState.Edu] On Behalf Of
ldschneider@juno.com
Sent: Sunday, July 11, 2004 2:36 PM
To: greenhouse-tomatoes@Lists.MsState.Edu
Subject: greenhouse-tomatoes: spider/russet mite

greenhouse-tomatoes - an email list for growers of greenhouse tomatoes.
Sent by "ldschneider@juno.com" <ldschneider@juno.com>.
-


We have had russet and spider mites in our tomato house.  We've had
great sucess with Occidentalis galendromus from Hydro gardens.
For out of control infestations or spot spraying we have good luck with
sulphur sprays.  We have been told that once you have them you will always
have them.   We put the beneficials out as soon as we set the plants in the
house.